Description

A beautiful route on great rock with a well-protected face crux followed by a perfect splitter 10+ finger lieback to thin hands crack. Not to be missed, especially because the scary old 1/4" bolt protecting the face crux was recently replaced with a bomber Petzl bolt courtesy of the Washington Climbers Coalition during the annual Index cleanup they sponsor.

Now that the entrance to this route is protected by a good bolt, this thing should become a popular alternative to Thin Fingers and other similar routes in the area.

Location

Uphill to the right from Thin Fingers about 40 feet. Follow the nicely maintained trail (again, thanks WCC volunteers) to a ledge below a blocky chimney (DO NOT CLIMB THIS CHIMNEY!). Traverse left from the ledge, reach out and clip the bolt, and it's on.

Protection

I'd like to thank whoever placed those two bomber sport snap anchors up there. Not only are they shiny and new, but they make it simple to clip the rope in and rap off. The lieback is strenuous and fun.

It's also possible to approach the traverse more directly from below now, which is still kind of dirty, but reasonably enjoyable climbing. It probably adds about 30' to the route which makes it a bit fuller value. Not quite up to the quality of the rest of the LTW routes, although it may clean up in time.

Nice route that deserves a lot more traffic. The easiest Lower Wall 1st pitch that you haven't already done? 3 very distinct sections: grotty old-school 5.9, crazy-fun 11- bolted crux, then textbook off-fingers 5.10 laybacking to better jams near the top. Very safe, but pay attention to the the way your rope runs on the edge as you pucker up and commit to the final dihedral.

We used a single 70m but had a fair bit of rope left over. A single 60m would probably work as well.

I aproached the traverse direct from the ground up and right of tatoosh, which added about 30+ feet of interesting climbing. Should not be missed. With some cleaning it should complete the experience. The one bolt is still holding up. Cool climbing, full value.